My Picks for the 2011 LA Cupcake Challenge

It's hard to judge a cupcake competition. Do I pick a cupcake that's the most unique, one I've never tried before, my favorite traditional flavor, or one that I could eat every day for the rest of my life? There's a lot that goes into picking the winning cupcake.

The LA Cupcake Challenge was a challenge to pick the best cupcakes because there were so many great ones! Luckily I had some help from a friend and a lot of experience in eating cupcakes.

Cupcake Activist's Pick for Best Traditional

My Delight Cupcakery
Red Velvet

Even though I've eaten a lot of My delight Cupcakery's cupcakes in the last two weeks, I could never get sick of them. Their Red Velvet is a perfect classic red velvet: moist cake and silky cream cheese frosting.

Best Traditional Honorable Mention:
Cake Pop - Red Velvet
Double D Cupcake - Chocolate Zin

Cupcake Activist's Pick for Best Original
Blue Cupcake
PB and J

I am a huge peanut butter and jelly fan. (I'm actually eating a PB & J sandwich for lunch today.) Blue Cupcake treated me with another delicious cupcake this year. I think people got thrown off by having two PB & J cupcakes at the event.

Best Original Honorable Mention:
Jus Minis - Josephine
The Cake Shop - Cherry Bomb

Cupcake Activist's Pick for Best Overall
My Delight Cupcakery
Late Night Breakfast

I picked My Delight Cupcakery as my overall favorite because they had the whole package. Not just delicious cupcakes, but great presentation to go with it. They've got it all!

Although I'm sad it's over, I had a great time at Drink Eat Play's 2011 Cupcake Challenge. I can't wait until next next year. Below I've listed the links to my posts about this year's event, as well as other bloggers event recaps.

Cupcake Activist: LA Cupcake Challenge Event Summary

Cupcake Activist: The Competitors, Part One

Cupcake Activist: The Competitors, Part Two

Cupcake Activist: The Competitors, Part Three

Cupcake Activist: The Competitors, Part Four

Cupcake Activist: LA Cupcake Challenge 2011 Results

Simple Math Bakery

Custom made productions blog

When Tara Met Blog

Drink Eat Travel

LA Eater

Los Anjealous

Dessert Patrol

krafted by kelly

LA Cupcake Challenge 2011: The Competitors, Part Two

The cupcakes keep coming. I was almost overwhelmed by how many cupcakes there were at this year's LA Cupcake Challenge. Key word: almost.

My Delight Cupcakery
www.mydelightcupcakery.com
Twitter: @My_Delight
Facebook: My Delight Cupcakery
Ontario, CA

I reviewed My Delight Cupcakery just a week before the LA Cupcake Challenge. I fell in love with their unique flavors, moist cake, and delicious frostings. Last year they placed 1st for Best Original and 2nd for Best Overall. They certainly didn't disappoint at LA Cupcake Challenge this year, as they won 1st place in all three categories! Congratulations are well-deserved!

11: Red Velvet
Even though I knew this Red Velvet was amazing, I was still impressed at how well it stacked up against the competition. Perfect cream cheese frosting!

27: Late Night Breakfast

This chicken & waffles cupcake was the talk of the afternoon. Although I've eaten a chicken & waffles cupcake before, this one was delicious. The maple syrup frosting was a bit greasy for me, but I loved the flavor combination of this cupcake.

And who wouldn't love this display? Yum!

Jus Minis

www.jus-minis.com
Twitter: @jusminis
Facebook: Jus Minis

Last year Jus Minis took 2nd in Best Original and 1st in Best Overall. Like My Delight Cupcakery, they matched their performance from last year. Although they got a 2nd and 3rd this year, I think their cupcakes deserved better.

24: Josephine
I loved the flavor combination of this vanilla cupcake, filled with caramel, topped with Nutella frosting, caramelized d'anjou pear, and a phyllo agave crisp. Several of these ingredients were unique, which made this cupcake one of my favorites of the day.

Fresh pears make a good display. I like how Jus Minis assembles their cupcakes at the event. They did this last year with their caramelized bananas. I think this makes the cupcakes more delicious.

10: Red Velvet
Not just an ordinary red velvet, this one was filled with cheesecake, topped with cherry compote cream cheese frosting and graham cracker crumbles. Yum!

Hansen's Cakes

08: Bridal White Cake

www.hansencakes.com

Twitter: @hansencakes

Showrooms in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, and Tarzana

Hansen's used the same exact boring cupcake as last year. I have no idea why so many people voted for this cupcake as Best Traditional. Because you can find it at every wedding? Blah.

I learned that Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom used Hansen's Cakes for their wedding cake. Maybe that's why everyone voted for them.

The Cake Mamas
www.thecakemamas.com
Twitter: thecakemamas
Facebook: The Cake Mamas
Glendora, CA

I met The Cake Mamas at Cupcake Cake IE last fall. Their Autumn Apple cupcake won for Tastiest Cupcake.

34: Cookies N' Cream
So much Oreo in this cupcake...I loved it!

14: Chocolate Truffle
Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. I especially liked the mousse frosting.

Blue Cupcake
www.bluecupcake.com
Twitter: @blue_cupcake
Facebook: Blue Cupcake
Sold at Century City Farmer's Market, Carmela Ice Cream, and Boba Loca Coffee

Blue Cupcake won 2nd place in Best Traditional last year. I chose them as one of my favorites.

02: Chocolate S'mores
I like that they toasted the masrhmallow frosting to make it more authentic.

16: PB and J

Although I've had PB & J cupcakes before, this one was outstanding. Blue Cupcake is on my list of favorites again this year.

Check out the first group of competitors here.
See the winners of the 2011 LA Cupcake Challenge here.

LA Cupcake Challenge Results

 

(Nichelle from Cupcakes Take the Cake and me)

Got the official results last night from the 2010 LA Cupcake Challenge. Here they are:

Best Traditional

1st: Big Man Bakes - Red Velvet

2nd: Blue Cupcake - Sweet and Salty Vanilla

3rd: Southern Girl Desserts - Red Velvet

Best Original

1st: My Delight Cupcakery - Breakfast Cake

2nd: Jus Minis - Caramel Banana

3rd: Two Parts Sugar - Chocolate Covered Strawberry

Best Overall

1st: Jus Minis - Caramel Banana

2nd: My Delight Cupcakery - Breakfast Cake

3rd: Two Parts Sugar - Chocolate Covered Strawberry

My Picks

Best Traditional Winner: 
Blue Cupcake - Sweet and Salty Vanilla

Best Traditional Runner-up: 
Big Man Bakes - Red Velvet

Best Original Winner: 
Blue Cupcake - Pumpkin

Best Original Runner-Up: 
Fairy Cakes - Pumpkin White Chocolate

Best Overall Winner: 
Blue Cupcake - Pumpkin

Best Overall Runner-up: 
Fairy Cakes - Pumpkin White Chocolate

I was blown away by Blue Cupcake's cupcakes! I am a sucker for cupcakes with filling (caramel in the Vanilla and pumpkin mousse in the Pumpkin). I  loved the sweet and salty combination that both of them had (salted vanilla buttercream on the Vanilla and pumpkin seeds on the Pumpkin). Blue Cupcake also had a very cute display. Congratulations to them for their 2nd place win on Best Traditional.

Big Man Bakes had some of the moistest cupcakes I've ever tasted. The "Big Man" told me that he worked for months perfecting his Red Velvet before he began selling it. He didn't want to sell an inferior cupcake. I admire that. 

Fairy Cakes was a close second place for me. Not sure why the two pumpkin cupcakes were my favorite of the day, but both were done just right. Fairy Cakes' Pumpkin cupcake was the first one I tried that day and was one of the few I was still thinking about after I left. I've read a few blogs over the past couple of days proclaiming their loved for Fairy Cakes' Pumpkin cupcake also. Great job! 

You can find more photos on the LA Cupcake Challenge flickr pool.

LA Cupcake Challenge: The Competitors, Part One

I explained exactly what the LA Cupcake Challenge was yesterday, so now let's see those cupcakes!

There were 22 bakeries competing for the titles of Best Traditional, Best Original, and Best Overall cupcake. Most bakeries entered two cupcakes in the competition. Yes, I got to eat 40 mini cupcakes! Yes, I was sick by the end of the night, but I loved every minute of it!

Babycakes Baking Company

01: Hot Chocolate

15: Bananas Foster

www.babycakesshop.com
Twitter: @BabyCakesBaking

Store located in Torrance
Comment: Loved the cupcake displays.

 

Big Man Bakes

02: Red Velvet

16: Carrot Cake

www.bigmanbakes.com

Twitter: @bigmanbakes 

Store located in Los Angeles

Comment: Cupcakes were super moist.

  

  

Blue Cupcake

03: Sweet and Salty Vanilla (Vanilla cake filled with rich caramel, topped with vanilla and salted caramel buttercream)

17: Pumpkin (Pumpkin bread filled with spiced pumpkin mousse, topped with vanilla cream cheese frosting and pumpkin seeds)

www.bluecupcake.com

Twitter: @juliedesmeules 

Sold at Century City Farmer's Market and Lot 44 Cupcake

Comment: Loved the display, very cute! But I loved these cupcakes even more!

  

  

Charmed Cupcakes

04: Red Velvet

18: Blueberry

www.charmed-cupcakes.com

Store located in Long Beach

Comment: They were the only bakery that made full-sized cupcakes. The Mardi Gras theme added some personality to their booth.

  

 

Cupcake Couture 

19: Sunday Mimosa

20: Little Miss Shortcake

www.cupcakescouturemb.com

Twitter: @CupcakesMB 

Comment: Taste matched their beautiful decoration.

 

Fairy Cakes 

05: Vanilla Bean Almond Dream

21: Pumpkin White Chocolate

www.fairycakesbakery.com

Comment: Based in Orange County, this was my first sampling of their cupcakes, but it is certainly not my last. The Pumpkin White Chocolate was outstanding!

And this is just the beginning! Check back soon to see more of the competitors and their cupcakes.